The first season for the Miami Heat in the post-LeBron James era was not successful from a winning standpoint – Miami missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Injuries were ultimately the reason for Miami’s playoff miss, as Chris Bosh was lost for the season after 44 games and Dwyane Wade missed his usual 20 games. Miami finished the season ranked 22nd in offensive efficiency and 19th in defensive efficiency, winning 37 games.

But in terms of the future, Pat Riley did an excellent job of surrounding the aging duo of Wade and Bosh with intriguing, young talent during the season. Miami unearthed a true gem in Hassan Whiteside: an uber-athletic 7-footer who protects the rim, and Goran Dragic was acquired at the trade deadline and extending this summer for five seasons. 

On paper, the Heat roster has tremendous talent, but whether or not the pieces fit smoothly was to be determined. Would they have enough three-point shooting? Can Whiteside keep up his exceptional production from his 48-game campaign? How well will Wade and Dragic mesh on offense?

Miami has had an excellent start to the season, sporting the seventh best point differential in the NBA. They currently sit fourth in the Eastern conference with a 6-4 record. The Heat offense has looked solid thus far, but their defense has looked fantastic with Whiteside now fully acclimated to the system. 

The Offense

Hassan Whiteside has been killer this season, and his addition has been a needed wrinkle for a very boring offense last season. Whiteside is a great pick-and-roll partner, capable of making DeAndre Jordan-esque finishes at the rim. Erik Spoelstra has been posting him up more often than pick-and-rolls, likely just some early season repetitions to broaden his offensive arsenal, although I think Miami’s offense would do much better delegating some of the post-ups to more roll-man action.

Whiteside is shooting nearly 77.3 percent out of pick-and-rolls and a respectable 41.4 percent on post-ups. On post-ups he is never getting to the line, sporting the second lowest percentage of such plays ending with a shooting foul. He is the only offensive rebounding threat on the roster. Miami is the 22nd ranked offensive rebounding team, and they plummet to 29th when Whiteside is on the bench. Their lack of offensive boards is just a factor of the strategy, though. Miami has the third best transition defense in the league.

Goran Dragic is an exuberant talent, but his fit in this system hasn’t looked very promising. Dragic is best suited in a fast-paced offense, and he thrives in transition. This Heat team has generated very few fastbreak opportunities, limiting some of his value.

In the halfcourt, Dragic can be lethal in the pick-and-roll game with his crafty dribbling, but Wade has been handling the ball much more in the offense so far, delegating Dragic to standing and watching. Miami has tried to get him in some good situations as a secondary ball-handler, swinging the ball to him on the perimeter after getting penetration and immediately hitting him with another screen, but he has been settling for bad shots more often than getting to the rim.  

He has the speed to beat most guards off the dribble, which helps when he rejects the screen on the perimeter and darts into the paint, which he does very often.

Ten games is a small sample size but Dragic just hasn’t looked like the All-NBA player from two seasons ago, when he nearly completed a 50/40/90 campaign on a fun Phoenix team. On this Miami offense, Dragic is essentially the fourth option, while he was the undisputed first option when he starred with the Phoenix Suns. Although he split ball-handling duties with Eric Bledsoe that season in Phoenix, similar to his current situation with Wade, the lack of fastbreak opportunities and slow half-court offense has really put a ceiling on how effective Dragic can be in this offense.

Wade has been very fun to watch this season, bringing his old-man game to another level with his herky jerky dribble drives and mid-range affection. Him and Whiteside have found a very nice chemistry on the pick-and-roll.

Chris Bosh has returned to form after missing half of last season, and his presence is much needed. Miami ranks 24th in the league in 3-pointers attempted, and their starting lineup is starved for spacing. Right now he is the team’s best 3-point threat, beside Gerald Green (who has been awesome when he plays. Miami’s offense scores at the second best rate in the league when Green is on the court). Bosh has been used a ton in the pick-and-pop game, something that is vital for this team’s spacing.

Spoelstra’s squad is scoring at a clip just above 100 points per 100 possessions, ranking 18^th in offensive efficiency. With Wade on the floor, they are scoring 104 points/100. When Dragic is on the floor, Miami scores roughly 99 points/100.

If Miami is trying to seriously contend for the Eastern Conference, their offense will have to improve, and that starts with getting their core players comfortable. Can Spo find a way to get Wade and Dragic playing at a high level? Is it possible in this offense? 

The Defense

The days of the helter-skelter Heat defense are gone, and they are now playing one of the most conservative and sound systems in the league. When LeBron was in Miami, Spoelstra employed a frenzied defense that involved a ton of trapping and hedging on the perimeter to make up for their lack of rim-protection. And it really did work, causing a bunch of turnovers with all of the chaos.

With Whiteside, Miami can now play a conservative defensive system, and it has proved to be very effective thus far. Whiteside has been tremendous, currently leading the league in shots contested less than six feet from the rim. He contests 9.6 such shots per game, with the second most frequent defender contesting 7.9. Defending the pick-and-roll can be one of the hardest nuances in the NBA, but Whiteside has looked great in these situations

He does a great job of moving his feet and never fully committing to the ball-handler. His freakish athleticism and nimble feet allow him to spring for tremendous recovery blocks. Whiteside currently leads the league in blocks with 4.6 per game.

During the LeBron era of defense, Miami thrived because of how they forced turnovers. Now that they have a true rim-protector, they don’t have to trap many pick-and-rolls anymore. Because of their new conservative system, the Heat have done a good job of limiting shots in the paint and forcing more mid-range looks, but they are also forcing very few turnovers, ranking 26th in turnovers forced. 

It’s not like this conservative system isn’t working, though. Miami has the second best defense in the entire league. They’re rebounding at a top-10 rate for the first time since 2012. The team is great at snuffing out pick-and-roll attacks, and the presence of Whiteside finally presents a true shot blocker. Opponents average a mere 18.8 assists when playing against Miami. However, there are some elements to their success on defense that aren’t really sustainable.

Miami’s defense is currently holding opponents to 40.5% shooting, the best mark in the entire league. They are also holding opponents to the second lowest 3-point percentage at 28.3%. Both of these numbers call for regression. Last season, the best FG% defense was 42.8%, while the best three-point defense was 32.2%.

Thus far this season, Miami has allowed the most left corner 3’s NBA, but opponents haven’t been able to punish them yet, converting just 34%. Heat opponents are also shooting the lowest percentage on 3’s above the break, making only 23.2% of such looks. Opponents will start hitting more of their 3’s against the Heat. It’s impossible to sustain such low numbers. 

One problem the Heat face is their lack of an elite defender on the perimeter. Deng doesn’t have the quickness to guard most small forwards effectively anymore, but Justice Winslow presents an interesting option. Miami’s defense holds opponents to 88.3 points/100 when Winslow is on the court. He has the ability to guard positions 1-4, a trait that no other Heat player has. I think he is their best option on the perimeter, and I hope he can be a fixture in their starting lineup come playoff time.